Practical discussion on contemporary life challenges from an ancient perspective.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of
the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life.”(John 8:12)

One tremendous theme threads its
way through the Gospel of John—the deity of Christ.John wants us to know Jesus is more than a
carpenter, greater than even the greatest of men, that He is indeed the Son of
God.Three wonderful words are woven
into the text—light, life, and love.Each one describes the essence of the Father and the Son.Seven supernatural signs are selected by the
writer to stress Christ’s deity.Then, we
have seven sublime statements where Jesus used the phrase, “I am,” which the Jews understood as the name of God, as He
revealed Himself to Moses—thus, Jesus was claiming to be God Incarnate.One of those statements is, “I am the light of the world.”

First, we consider THE LIGHT AS IT
WAS REVEALED.The purpose of light is to
reveal—to shine out and to show up a thing.Christ shines out the person of God.When He claims to be the Light, He claims to be God.Is He a liar, lunatic, or Lord?Those are the only options.He is either a deceiver, delusional or Deity.John was an eyewitness to His glory revealed
on the Mt. of Transfiguration.Paul saw that Light and said He is the image
of the invisible God (Col.1:15),
and Hebrews 1:3
speaks of, “the brightness of His glory
and the express image of His person….”Christ shows up the path to God.As the glory cloud led the Israelites through the wilderness, so Christ
is the Light of the world to guide us to God (see 2 Cor.4:6).

Next, we note THE LIGHT AS IT WAS
RECEIVED.Consider the context.As the Kingdom
of God is branded by brightness, the kingdom of Satan is dominated by darkness.The previous verses tell the story of a woman
caught in the act of adultery, but the light of Christ shone upon her and
changed her life forever.In the next
chapter, we read of a man blind from birth.That is the spiritual condition of all in this world by virtue of their
physical birth who need a spiritual birth to open their eyes to the light of
truth and life (see John 1:4-13).When the blind man received Christ, he became
a new person.Christ can break the
bondage of darkness in your life and bring you into new life in Him!It is the dawn of a new day.

Sadly, we find THE LIGHT AS IT WAS
REJECTED. So many reject the Light
because of an obstinate darkness (John
8:13-19).The darkness of
unbelief is a stubborn thing (v.23-24).At last, these who spurned the Light and sought the darkness committed
the sin for which there is no forgiveness (8:48).Christ offered Himself as their King, and
they would cry, “We have no king but
Caesar!” (19:15).Jesus demonstrated
the credibility of His claims by the miracles He performed, but they attributed
it to the power of Satan.Their
obstinate darkness would take them into outer darkness.That is how Jesus described hell—a dark pit
of torment where the light of life is shut off—a second death; a place where
the light of love is shut out—away from God’s gracious presence.

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About Me

I am a mountaineer by birth--a native of Asheville, NC. For a period of ten years I lived in the Charlotte area and for the last eighteen, I have been "home." I was brought up in a Christian family. In fact, I went to church nine months before I was born! Despite the best efforts of parents and preachers, I went astray. The Prodigal Son story that Jesus told in Luke 15 became my story--a sordid life of drugs and booze and that's enough for you to know. But at the age of eighteen all I had been taught came flooding back into my mind when I saw the mess I was in. Christ changed me. I gave my life to Him and as a result have spent the last three decades preaching the Gospel. I'm not all I ought to be and certainly not what I one day shall be, but thankfully, not what I used to be! God has blessed me with a great wife, five wonderful children and so far, twelve grandchildren. To Him be the glory and praise, now and forever.